The French-American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco
 cordially invites you to join us for a:    

Life Science Breakfast:

"A look at obesity-related diseases, a 21st century crisis"

It is difficult for anyone to ignore the troubling health trends associated with obesity in America: 30% of adults are obese and over 15% of children and adolescents are overweight and susceptible to obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. According to Burrill & Co, the cost of patient care for diabetes alone is estimated at $98 B and 90% of type II diabetics are suffering from obesity.

To discuss and help us understand the causes, implications, treatments and prevention methods for obesity-related diseases, the French-American Chamber of Commerce has invited a distinguished panel of well respected industry professionals who will share their wisdom and answer your questions.

Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
 7:30 am - 9:30 am
At Swissnex

730 Montgomery Street
San Francisco

Breakfast will be served

Swissnex connects the dots in science, education, art and innovation,
between Switzerland and Western North America

This event is sponsored by:

MODERATOR

Mike Powell
Managing Director
Sofinnova Ventures
Michael Powell, Ph.D., Managing Director, joined Sofinnova Ventures in 1997. In his 20 years of pharmaceutical development experience, Mike has worked on 20 clinical products and authored almost 100 papers and books, including a 1,100-page treatise on vaccine design. As a pilot, diver, trapshooter, fisherman, skier and dinosaur hunter, Mike is the Indiana Jones of Sofinnova Ventures.
He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1981, and completed his post-doctorate work in Bio-organic Chemistry at the University of California, where he was subsequently a faculty member (1981-84).

SPEAKERS

Michael Hanley, PhD
Vice President, Discovery Research
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Hanley has served as Vice President, Discovery Research since 2003. From 1997 to 2003, Dr. Hanley was a senior consultant for healthcare investors in the venture capital and banking communities and for biotechnology companies such as Cell Therapeutics, Zymogenetics, Elan Pharmaceuticals, and Chiron Corporation. Prior to that, Dr. Hanley had a successful academic career, having held tenured faculty positions at Imperial College, London, the Medical Research Council Laboratories, Cambridge, and the University of California at Davis, where he was Professor of Biological Chemistry. Dr. Hanley has served on advisory or review panels for the National Institutes of Health, the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust of Great Britain, and for the governments of Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark and Japan. Dr. Hanley has also set-up and directed research programs in privately-held start-ups, such as Chemocentryx, PsychoGenics, and most recently Harvard-based Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mark A. McCamish, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Pergelen
Dr. McCamish joined Perlegen in September 2003. Most recently the Global Development Leader at Amgen Inc. he was responsible for clinical development and successful commercialization of drugs in development. His therapeutic areas included nephrology, cardiac, pulmonary and other chronic disease indications. As a member of Amgen's International Clinical Oversight Group, Dr. McCamish was responsible for approval of all clinical research protocols, clinical study reports and FDA/Regulatory submissions. Prior to joining Amgen, Dr. McCamish was with Abbott Laboratories, directly involved with the R&D and launching of diabetes, obesity, gastroenterology, nephrology, and pulmonology products.
Dr. McCamish has held faculty positions at the University of California at Davis, Michigan State University and Ohio State University. He holds an M.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition & Metabolism.

Christian Vaisse, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
UCSF
Christian Vaisse is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Diabetes Center at the University of California San Francisco. He is a graduate of the University of Paris, France, and completed his training as a post-doctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University in New York. The overall goal of his research is to identify genetic defects implicated in the onset and progression of multi-factorial metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. His research research focuses in particular on the molecular mechanisms implicated in the hypothalamic effects of the adipocyte secreted, weight regulating hormone, leptin. He described the first leptin receptor mutation in severely obese humans and more recently demonstrated that genetic alterations in the Melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R), a mediator of the hypothalamic effects of leptin, are responsible for a more common form of human obesity. Both through in vitro and in vivo studies his work aims at understanding how these mutations cause obesity and what the implications are for the treatment of this condition.
 

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